CBS To Air Evening News Live On Web

CBS will become the first network to offer a live simulcast of its evening news broadcast on the Internet, the network announced Thursday.

Live simulcasts of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric will begin on CBSNews.com on Tuesday, Sept. 5.

"This is a groundbreaking development in making the program available to the largest possible audience," said Sean McManus, President, CBS News and Sports. "For people who can't be in front of their televisions when the CBS Evening News is on, they can now watch the program live on their computers."

CBS is also making the CBS Evening News available as an on-demand program accessible after the simulcast, and will continue to let viewers build their own broadcast online by choosing individual reports from each program.

The live simulcast and on-demand versions of the broadcast are advertiser-supported and will be available for free.

"Technology has become an integral part of everyday life for most people, and it's dramatically changed the way they consume news, so this is a fantastic development," said Katie Couric, anchor and managing editor of the broadcast.

Viewers will have access to "great reporting by all the CBS Evening News correspondents, literally, anytime they want," Couric said.

"It's another example of how we intend to use our website to complement our broadcast – and, most importantly, to benefit our viewers," Couric said.

The network also announced a number of other new broadcast features that will be available online and on other platforms, including:

"Couric & Company" – a blog exploring the day's news through links to exclusive, free video, and contributions from CBS News correspondents around the world.

"Eye to Eye" – a daily, on-demand web-exclusive feature hosted by Couric offering extended interviews with top newsmakers. The segment will be posted on CBSNews.com by mid-afternoon and will be available for audio and video podcast and on iTunes.

"CBS News First Look with Katie Couric" - a web-exclusive rundown, available early each weekday afternoon, of the stories being considered for coverage on that night's broadcast.

"Katie Couric's Notebook" – a one-minute look at top story or issue by Couric, available as an audio and video podcast and on iTunes.

"As we learned from our simulcast of March Madness on Demand, there is a huge appetite for real time content on the Internet," said Larry Kramer, President, CBS Digital Media. "Viewers increasingly want access to programming when it's fresh, and the Internet allows us to bring our content to them wherever they are and whenever that content is broadcast."